Monday, August 31, 2009

Doggy Styles – Silvis, IL

We knew we were going to be eating dinner before going to the Fruit Pie Festival, so we needed to grab something light. Well, maybe not light, but something small enough that we wouldn’t get full. We had just done some shopping for Kickball Prom – which I will be describing after the actual prom event on Wednesday – and had to have a snack before going out with HotGirlsBrother that evening. EyeHeartPizza mentioned hot dogs and the lightbulb went off. Doggy Styles in Silvis, IL. We headed across town to this place. It’s one of my favorite lunch places from when I worked at the John Deere Headquarters.

As we drove into downtown Silvis (it’s a VERY small town), there were people sitting in lawn chairs drinking beers and food carts were set up. Apparently, there’s some sort of nighttime parade through downtown, and people were staking their claim along the parade route with lawn chairs and already pounding beers at like 11am. High five, Silvis.

Once inside Doggy Styles, we noticed signs saying “special menu.” I guess this means when they have festivals, they don’t offer the full menu. This also apparently means I can’t get the giant slop pile that I usually get here – the ChowHound. Even though I didn’t get the ChowHound, I’ll tell you what it is so you can drool over it. Throw a slice or two of texas toast in one of those plastic red baskets with waxed paper, then cover that with fries, chili, and hot dogs. It’s amazing. For you Quac-Citians, it’s basically the hot dog version of a Magic Mountain.

As I said, we were eating light, so I only got a chili cheese dog. It was good, but looks so tame compared to the ChowHound. Oh well. The chili is a little thin for my taste, but it actually tastes good, so I won’t complain. The dogs are always good there. I would also prefer shredded cheese over pump cheese, but in this case, the whole thing works. It’s a decent dog, especially for a light lunch. And having Dew on the menu helps as well.

Top 5 things about Doggy Styles1. Chili cheese dog2. No waiting at all3. They have a dog called the Homewrecker. It’s got all kinds of gastrointestinal napalm on it. The name alone brings a smile to my face4. Watching people pounding beers for a parade that is 8 hours away5. They have Dew

Bottom 5 things1. Gerd liked to eat here, despite having GERD. It didn’t treat her well, but she did enjoy the place2. This really made me miss my John Deere coworkers. We ALWAYS had a blast eating here. This time there was no trivia, like when we used to go there3. No ChowHound on the menu today4. Most of the chairs and tables were outside in the sun for the festival that evening5. The novelty of saying “Doggy Styles” around my parents is wearing off